This episode has the final speaking appearance of Lionel Hutz, five months before the death of Phil Hartman. The episode's development grew out of a desire by the writers to do a show focused on Marge, where her job did not work out. The episode received positive mention in the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide, and is featured in the special 2003 DVD release The Simpsons: Risky Business.

Plot

Homer drags Marge to a police seized-property auction. While there, he buys Snake's car, the Li'l Bandit. Upon seeing this, Snake vows to kill Homer. After the auction, Marge encounters Lionel Hutz, who has become a realtor. Marge decides to try the job for herself and begins to work for Hutz at Red Blazer Realty. She tells prospective buyers her honest opinion about the houses she shows them.

Due to her honesty, Marge does not sell any homes. Hutz informs her to use more positive descriptions when selling the houses, and also informs Marge if she does not sell a house in the first week, she will be fired. Marge tries to bend the truth, but fails as she just cannot lie to others. Marge does not disclose the entire truth of the house she sells to Ned Flanders and his family, which had been the site of a multiple homicide. The Flanders purchase the house and bid farewell to the Simpsons.

Meanwhile, Snake escapes from the prison and jumps into the Li'l Bandit to retrieve the car from Homer. They start fighting each other to gain control of the moving car, and Chief Wiggum starts chasing them.

Feeling guilty about her deception and concerned for the Flanders' safety, Marge goes to check on them at their new house. There, she tells them the truth about the murders, but they are not annoyed. Ned and Maude are pleased to be a part of Springfield's history, and refuse Marge's offer of returning the deposit. Unfortunately, the house is destroyed seconds later when Li'l Bandit and Wiggum's police car crash through the house. Marge returns Flanders' down payment. Hutz, annoyed at the damage costs and especially by the return of the money, fires Marge (giving her a Red Blazer embroidered with this information). At the end of the episode, Homer takes Marge to the government unemployment office to collect a welfare check.

Production

The writers wanted to do a "Marge episode", but one where her job does not work out, unlike previous episodes.[3] The episode marks the first appearance of Gil Gunderson, voiced by Dan Castellaneta, and Cookie Kwan, voiced by Tress MacNeille. Excuses were made by the writers to bring back Gil in future episodes based on Castellaneta's performance at the table read, which proved popular with the staff.[3] Snake's prison number is 7F20, the production code of "The War of the Simpsons", the episode in which he first appeared.[3]

The piano wire scene was meant to end with Kirk's sandwich being sliced just the way he wanted, until George Meyer suggested that his arm be cut off instead. Mike Scully described the ensuing laughter at his suggestion as the most intense he had ever heard from the staff, saying: "They were literally choking because the joke was so unexpected. It was a shocked kind of laugh, and it just started rolling, one of those laughs that build the more they reverberate through you."[4] In the unemployment line, the unemployment recipient with the bucket hat and the beard is a caricature of George Meyer.[5] Due to Phil Hartman's death, the recurring characters of Lionel Hutz and Troy McClure were retired.[6] As such, this episode is the last speaking appearance of Hutz, with him only being featured as a background character in some future episodes.[5] McClure's final appearance would be in "Bart the Mother", the third episode of season ten.[6]

When Ned Flanders explains to Marge that they were painting Todd's room red, Todd starts saying "Red room, red room" and moves his finger, like the character of Danny does in the film The Shining.[2]

When Lionel Hutz reads the list of wrecked items to Marge, it is a tribute to the Lethal Weapon movies.[3]

The newspaper front page reporting the "Jealous Jockey Murders" carries the statement "Mrs. Astor safe" beneath the headline. This is a reference to the front page of The New York Times on April 15, 1912, reporting the sinking of the RMS Titanic three days earlier whilst assuring that "Ismay safe, Mrs. Astor maybe".[8]

Reception

In its original broadcast, "Realty Bites" finished 21st in ratings for the week of December 1–7, 1997, with a Nielsen rating of 10.8, equivalent to approximately 10.6 million viewing households. It was the third-highest-rated show on the Fox network that week, following The X-Files and King of the Hill.[9]

The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide said, "A simple but enjoyable romp, with the final few minutes in the Murder House particularly funny. Best thing though is the introduction of the hapless Gil, destined to always be a ray of light in any episode!"[2] The episode is featured in a special 2003 DVD compilation called The Simpsons: Risky Business, along with "Marge Gets a Job", "Deep Space Homer", and "Homer the Smithers".[10]

Daniel Louis Castellaneta (; born October 29, 1957) is an American actor, voice actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter, best known for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the Fox Broadcasting Company animated sitcom The Simpsons. He also voices many other characters for the show including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Sideshow Mel, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman. Castellaneta also had roles in several other programs, including Futurama for Fox Broadcasting Company, Sibs and Darkwing Duck for ABC, The Adventures of Dynamo Duck for Fox Kids, Back to the Future: The Animated Series for CBS, Aladdin for Toon Disney, Taz-Mania for Warner Bros. Animation and in Hey Arnold! as Grandpa Phil for Nickelodeon.

In 1999, he appeared in the Christmas special Olive, the Other Reindeer, and won an Annie Award for his portrayal of the Postman. He released a comedy album I Am Not Homer, and wrote and starred in a one-person show titled Where Did Vincent van Gogh?

Daniel "Dan" Greaney is an American television writer. He has written for The Simpsons and The Office. He was hired during The Simpsons' seventh season after writing the first draft of the episode "King-Size Homer", but left after season eleven. He returned to the Simpsons staff during the thirteenth season.

He attended Harvard College, where he was president of Harvard Lampoon and editor of the Harvard Lampoon's nationally distributed parody of USA Today. He also worked as an editorial assistant at The Boston Globe. He graduated from Harvard in 1987.After college, he worked as a reporter for USA Today and co-authored a book entitled Truly One Nation with USA Today founder Allen H. Neuharth. He subsequently attended Harvard Law School and practiced law in New York for two years, during which time he co-founded PME, a television and media company operating in Ukraine and several other former Soviet republics.

Greaney coined the word embiggen in 1996 for "Lisa the Iconoclast," an episode from season seven of The Simpsons.Greaney has worked on numerous film projects, most notably as composer on Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

Greaney is credited with writing "Bart to the Future", an oddly prophetic episode of The Simpsons from 2000 that presented the possibility of a Donald Trump presidency, which would be realized sixteen years later.

Dr. Julius M. Hibbert, usually referred to as Dr. Hibbert, is a recurring character on the animated series The Simpsons. His speaking voice is provided by Harry Shearer and his singing voice was by Thurl Ravenscroft, and he first appeared in the episode "Bart the Daredevil". Dr. Hibbert is Springfield's most prominent and competent doctor, though he sometimes makes no effort to hide or makes light of his high prices. Dr. Hibbert is very good-natured, and is known for finding a reason to laugh at nearly every situation.

The economy of Delhi is the 13th largest among states and union territories of India. The nominal GSDP of the NCT of Delhi for 2017-18 was estimated at ₹6.86 lakh crore (US$99 billion) recording an annual growth of 8.1%. Growth rate in 2014-15 was 9.2%.In 2017-18, the tertiary sector contributed 85% of Delhi's GSDP followed by the secondary and primary sectors at 12% and 3% respectively. The services sector recorded an annual growth of 7.3%.Delhi is the largest commercial centre in northern India. As of 2016, recent estimates of the economy of the urban area of Delhi have ranged from $167 to $369 billion (PPP metro GDP) ranking it either the most or second-most productive metro area of India.

Lenford "Lenny" Leonard and Carlton "Carl" Carlson are recurring characters in the Fox animated series The Simpsons, voiced by Harry Shearer and Hank Azaria, respectively. They are best friends of Homer Simpson and work with him at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. Lenny and Carl are rarely seen apart and have a close relationship. Each possesses a master's degree in nuclear physics, but are often portrayed as blue-collar working men.

Lionel Hutz is a fictional character in the American animated TV sitcom The Simpsons. He was voiced by Phil Hartman, and his first appearance was in the season two episode "Bart Gets Hit by a Car". Hutz is a stereotypical ambulance chasing lawyer in Springfield with questionable competence and ethics. He is nevertheless often hired by the Simpsons. Following Hartman's murder by the hands of his wife in 1998, Hutz was retired; and his final speaking role was in the season nine episode "Realty Bites" five months earlier.

"Lisa the Skeptic" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on November 23, 1997. On an archaeological dig with her class, Lisa discovers a skeleton that resembles an angel. All of the townspeople believe that the skeleton actually came from an angel, but skeptical Lisa attempts to persuade them that there must be a rational scientific explanation. The episode's writer, David X. Cohen, developed the idea after visiting the American Museum of Natural History, and decided to loosely parallel themes from the Scopes Monkey Trial. The episode also makes allusions to actual hoaxes, such as the Cardiff Giant.

It has been discussed in the context of ontology, existentialism, and skepticism; it has also been used in Christian religious education classes to initiate discussion about angels, skepticism, science, and faith. The episode received generally positive reviews.

Along with the Simpson family, The Simpsons includes a large array of characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, and as well as fictional characters. The creators originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokesters or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to creator Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the Canadian sketch comedy show Second City Television.The main episode characters, the Simpson family, are listed first; all other characters are listed in alphabetical order. Only main, supporting, and recurring characters are listed. For one-time and other recurring characters, see List of recurring The Simpsons characters and List of one-time The Simpsons characters.

In addition to the show's regular cast of voice actors, celebrity guest stars have been a staple of The Simpsons, an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company, since its first season. The Simpsons focuses on the eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie. The family was initially conceived by Groening for a series of animated shorts, which originally aired as a part of The Tracey Ullman Show between 1987 and 1989. The shorts were developed into a half-hour prime time series which began in December 1989. The series' 29th season began in October 2017 and 662 episodes of The Simpsons have aired. A feature film adaptation of the series called The Simpsons Movie, was released in 2007.

Guest voices have come from a wide range of professions, including actors, athletes, authors, musicians, artists, politicians and scientists. In the show's early years most guest stars voiced original characters, but as the show has continued the number of those appearing as themselves has increased.

The first credited guest star was Marcia Wallace who appeared in "Bart the Genius" in her first stint as Bart's teacher Edna Krabappel. Singer Tony Bennett was the first guest star to appear as himself, appearing briefly in the season two episode "Dancin' Homer". Several guest stars have featured as recurring characters on the show, including Phil Hartman, Joe Mantegna and Kelsey Grammer. Hartman made the most appearances, guest starring 52 times. Grammer, Mantegna, Maurice LaMarche and Frank Welker have appeared twenty times or more; Jon Lovitz and Jackie Mason have appeared over ten times, while Albert Brooks, Glenn Close, Michael Dees, Dana Gould, Terry W. Greene, Valerie Harper, Jan Hooks, Jane Kaczmarek, Stacy Keach, Kipp Lennon, J. K. Simmons, Sally Stevens, George Takei and Michael York have made over five appearances.

Two guest stars, Ricky Gervais and Seth Rogen, earned writing credits for the episodes in which they appeared. Grammer, Mason and three-time guest star Anne Hathaway all won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for guest voice roles on the show. The show was awarded the Guinness World Record for "Most Guest Stars Featured in a TV Series" in 2010. As of May 12, 2019, there have been 826 guest stars on the show[A], with this figure rising to 831 if The Simpsons Movie is included.

The Simpsons is an American animated television sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a satirical depiction of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its eponymous family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield, and lampoons American culture, society, and television, as well as many aspects of the human condition. The family was conceived by Groening shortly before a pitch for a series of animated shorts with producer James L. Brooks. Groening created a dysfunctional family and named the characters after members of his own family, substituting Bart for his own name. The shorts became a part of the Fox series The Tracey Ullman Show on April 19, 1987. After a three-season run, the sketch was developed into a half-hour prime-time show that was an early hit for Fox.Throughout the years, many episodes of the show have been released on DVD and VHS. When the first season DVD was released in 2001, it quickly became the best-selling television DVD in history, although it was later overtaken by the first season of Chappelle's Show. The first eighteen seasons are available on DVD in Regions 1, 2, and 4, with the twentieth season released on both DVD and Blu-ray in 2010 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series. The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film, was released in theaters worldwide on July 27, 2007, and it was later available on DVD and Blu-ray worldwide on December 3, 2007 and on December 18, 2007 in the U.S. On April 8, 2015, showrunner Al Jean announced that there would be no more DVD or Blu-ray releases, shifting focus to digital distribution. Two years later, following fan protest, it was announced on July 22, 2017 that Season 18 would be released on December 5, 2017 on DVD with the possibility of further seasons if sales are strong enough. The release was the first since early-December 2014.

The Simpsons includes a large array of supporting characters: co-workers, teachers, family friends, extended relatives, townspeople, local celebrities, fictional characters within the show, and even animals. The writers originally intended many of these characters as one-time jokes or for fulfilling needed functions in the town. A number of them have gained expanded roles and have subsequently starred in their own episodes. According to the creator of The Simpsons, Matt Groening, the show adopted the concept of a large supporting cast from the Canadian sketch comedy show Second City Television.

Marjorie Jacqueline "Marge" Simpson (née Bouvier) is a fictional character in the American animated sitcom The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Marge was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the character after his mother Margaret Groening. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, the Simpson family received their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989.

Marge is the matriarch of the Simpson family. With her husband Homer, she has three children: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Marge is the moralistic force in her family and often provides a grounding voice in the midst of her family's antics by trying to maintain order in the Simpson household. She is often portrayed as a stereotypical television mother and is often included on lists of top "TV moms". She has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons—including video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials, and comic books—and inspired an entire line of merchandise.

Marge's distinctive blue beehive hairstyle was inspired by a combination of the Bride's in Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore in the 1960s. Julie Kavner, who was a member of the original cast of The Tracey Ullman Show, was asked to voice Marge so that more voice actors would not be needed. Kavner has won several awards for voicing Marge, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992. She was also nominated for an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature for her performance in The Simpsons Movie. In 2000, Marge, along with the rest of her family, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

"Miracle on Evergreen Terrace" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on December 21, 1997. Bart accidentally ruins Christmas for the Simpson family by burning down the tree and all their presents.

It was written by Ron Hauge, directed by Bob Anderson, and guest starred Alex Trebek as himself. Hauge was inspired to write the episode after learning of an orphanage that had been ripped off. The episode was included, among other Christmas themed episodes of the series, on a 2005 Christmas special boxed set on DVD. The authors of the book I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide criticized the episode as a rehash of older themes, but it was also described as one of The Simpsons' more memorable episodes in a review of the 2005 DVD boxed set release.

Swinton O. Scott III is an animation director best known for his work on The Simpsons.

He directed four episodes of Futurama, 7 episodes of The Simpsons, two episodes of The Looney Tunes Show, an episode of The Angry Beavers, three episodes of God, the Devil and Bob, and one episode of Family Guy. Scott also worked on Camp Lazlo.

The Simpsons' ninth season originally aired on the Fox network between September 1997 and May 1998, beginning on Sunday, September 21, 1997, with "The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson". With Mike Scully as showrunner for the ninth production season, the aired season contained three episodes which were hold-over episodes from season eight, which Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein ran. It also contained two episodes which were run by David Mirkin, and another two hold-over episodes which were run by Al Jean and Mike Reiss.Season nine won three Emmy Awards: "Trash of the Titans" for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) in 1998, Hank Azaria won "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance" for the voice of Apu Nahasapeemapetilon, and Alf Clausen and Ken Keeler won the "Outstanding Music and Lyrics" award. Clausen was also nominated for "Outstanding Music Direction" and "Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore)" for "Treehouse of Horror VIII". Season nine was also nominated for a "Best Network Television Series" award by the Saturn Awards and "Best Sound Editing" for a Golden Reel Award.The Simpsons 9th Season DVD was released on December 19, 2006 in Region 1, January 29, 2007 in Region 2 and March 21, 2007 in Region 4. The DVD was released in two different forms: a Lisa-shaped head, to match the Maggie, Homer and Marge shaped heads from the three previous DVD sets, and also a standard rectangular shaped box. Like the previous DVD sets, both versions are available for sale separately.

742 Evergreen Terrace is the most commonly used fictional street address in Springfield of the Simpson family home in the animated sitcom, The Simpsons and in the feature film The Simpsons Movie. In the series, the house is owned by Homer and Marge Simpson, who live with their three children Bart, Lisa and Maggie. The street name is a reference to The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, creator Matt Groening's alma mater.

To the left of the Simpsons' house (as seen from the street) is Ned Flanders' house, at 744 Evergreen Terrace. The house on the right has been occupied by numerous owners, including Ruth and Laura Powers, Sideshow Bob, and the extended Flanders family (Ted Flanders and his daughters Connie and Bonnie).

In 1997, a real-life replica of the house was constructed at 712 Red Bark Lane in Henderson, Nevada, and given away as the grand prize in a contest.

"The Twisted World of Marge Simpson" is the eleventh episode of The Simpsons' eighth season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 19, 1997. It was written by Jennifer Crittenden and directed by Chuck Sheetz. The episode guest stars Jack Lemmon as Frank Ormand and Joe Mantegna as Fat Tony. In the episode, Marge starts her own pretzels business.

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